Cutting pliers



March 31, 1964 w. P. POPEK CUTTING PLIERS Filed Feb. 27, 1961 INVENTOR.

WILL/AM P. POPEK ac 441 z W ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofiice 3,126,628 Patented Mar. 31, 1964 3,126,628 CUTTBNG PLIERS William P. Popelr, 1016 Staub Court NE, Cedar Rapids, lowa Filed Feb. 27, 1961, Ser. No. 91,769 6 Claims. (Cl. 30-134) This invention relates to wire cutting pliers, and more particularly to cutting pliers for use in assembling electrical equipment.

In the electronic industry when electrical devices such as radio sets and the like are being constructed it is often expeditious to cut wire leads for use in the set right over and quite often inside the chassis of the set being assembled Wire cutting pliers commonly in use are unsatisfactory because the assembler must catch the piece of wire he cuts from the main strand or such piece will fall inside the set and often prove difiicult, if not impossible, to retrieve. In addition, wire cuttings can constitute a safety hazard since they are, if not positively contained, sometimes projected with considerable force when cut.

Various means have been employed in the industry to contain a piece of wire severed from the main strand, but these devices have all proved unsatisfactory for one reason or another. For example, US. Patent No. 1,444,044 discloses a pair of resilient clips each of which is pivotally mounted on the rivet which holds the pliers together with one end of each clip overlying the pliers jaws and the other end fixed to one handle of the pliers. When the pliers jaws close and sever the wire, the resilient clip portions overlying the pliers jaws flexedly retain the severed wire. It will be noted, however, that as soon as the clips clamp onto the wire being cut the continued movement of the pliers handles flexes the clips between the point at which each clip is pivoted to the handles and where it is secured to a handle. Electrical wire cutting pliers are normally small and, therefore, the long clip portion extending between the pivot and handle connection point shown in Patent No. 1,444,044 cannot be provided, and when this clip portion is foreshortened early clip fatigue results.

Other devices such as shown in US. Patent No. 253,252 reduce metal fatigue problems but in doing so either increase the bulk of the pliers or require special pliers to receive the resilient holding clips, or both, as is the case with Patent No. 253,252.

It is the object of this invention to provide small electrical type cutting and holding pliers which have a long life and are low in cost, and above all, are eificient in operation.

This object is accomplished by use of a pair of resilient clips adapted for use with an ordinary pair of wire cutting pliers. These clips each have a tongue which overlies the pliers jaws, a shank which connects to one pliers handle, and a bridge portion which connects said tongue and shank and has a transverse slot therein through which a shouldered bolt having a large flat head passes to hold the clips to the pliers and to hold the pliers handles together. The bolt shoulder is circular and has a diameter slightly smaller than the length of the minor axis of the transverse slot which permits the clips to float transversely with respect to said bolt.

By use of this floating construction, the strain which builds up in Patent No. 1,444,044 in the clip between where it is pivoted to the pliers and where it is fixed to one pliers handle is distributed over the entire length of the clip from tongue to shank. This reduces clip fatigue problems greatly. This construction is especially adaptable for use with cutting pliers whereas the construction shown in Patent No. 1,444,044 requires a long clip shank regardless of the length of the tongue portion of the clip and thus becomes impractical in applications where relatively short handled pliers are used such as in the assembly or" electronic devices.

Other objects and advantages will be pointed out in, or be apparent from, the specification and claims, as will obvious modifications of the single embodiment shown in the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the jaws of cutting pliers equipped with the holding clips of this invention with said jaws being in closed position but without any Wire clipping being held between the holding clips.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view like FIG. 1 except with a wire clipping being held between the holding clips.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one holding clip.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the other holding clip.

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view of the bolt which holds the cutting members and clips together.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view showing the holding clips flexedly holding a piece of wire therebetween.

Referring to the drawings, a pair of cutting pliers consists of a cutting member 6 including a cutting jaw 7 with a cutting edge 13, and a handle 9, and another similar but opposite-handed member 10 having a handle 11 and jaw 12 with cutting edge 8 thereon, said jaw being ofiset to cooperate with the other jaw to cut a wire placed therebetween. Said members being held together in pivoted relation by a bolt 29 which passes through an aperture in member 6 and screws into member 10.

A resilient holding clip 16 consists of a tongue 18 which overlies the top 15 of one of the pliers jaws 12, a shank 22 which lies adjacent pliers handle 11 and has a collar 24 adapted to snap over said pliers handle, and a bridge 26 which interconnects the tongue and shank and has a transversely extending aperture 28 through which the shoulder on bolt 24 passes. The other holding clip 17 is opposite-handed with respect to clip 16 and otherwise identical except that bridge portion 361 is offset from the plane of the clip tongue to provide clearance for the bridge of clip .16 when the clips are assembled to the pliers and to enable the two clip tongues to lie in the same plane to prevent them sliding over one another.

Bolt 29 has a head with a large diameter which overlies the holding clips and a circular shoulder having a diameter slightly smaller than the length of the minor axis of said transverse aperture so that the holding clip can shift transversely with respect to bolt 29 and still be retained on the pliers.

It will be appreciated that when the pliers are closed, 'as shown in FIG. 6, the holding clip is in flexure, and has been flexed from the time the clip tongues contacted the wire 32 to be cut, and that this flexure is distributed over the entire length of the clip. This distribution of flexure forces is achieved by constructing the clip with a transversely elongated slot so that the clip is disconnected from the pivot bolt 29 when the pliers are closed.

Since wire cutting pliers are normally sloped inwardly 9 at one face so that cutting occurs near the opposite face, by providing clips to substantially cover said one face of the cutting jaws a pocket is formed to contain even small bits of wire that would not be long enough to be gripped by the clips. In addition, the clips are relatively thin to permit access of the pliers into relatively small openings. Clip thinness is made possible by the transverse slot construction which virtually eliminates undesirable overriding of one clip over the other.

Although but one embodiment of the present invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Pliers for cutting wire and the like, comprising in combination, a pair of cutting members, each of said members having a jaw portion and a handle portion, one of said jaws being olfset from the horizontal axis of said handle portion to cooperate with the other cutting member, a pivot passing through each of said members intermediate said jaw portion and said handle portion, and a pair of flexible holding clips pivotally mounted on said pivot, each of said clips having a transverse aperture therein to permit transverse shifting of said clip with respect to said pivot, one end of each clip being secured to a handle portion of one of said cutting members, and the other end of each clip lying adjacent the jaw portion of the same cutting member to which its said one end is secured, a portion of one of said clips being offset for cooperation with the other clip to retain a wire cut by closing said cutting members.

2. A pliers comprising one cutting member including a cutting jaw and a handle, another cutting member including a cutting jaw and a handle being crossed over said one cutting member, one of said members having an olfset jaw for cooperation with the other cutting member, a pivot holding said members together for pivotal movement, a first flexible clip having an aperture therein, said pivot extending into and through said aperture, said aperture being sized to permit lateral shifting of the clip with respect to said pivot, said first clip being secured at one end to the handle of said one member, the other end of said first clip overlying the cutting jaw of said one member, a second flexible clip having an aperture therein, said pivot extending into and through said aperture, said aperture being sized to permit lateral shifting of said second clip with respect to said pivot, said second clip being secured at one end to the handle of said another member, the other end of said second clip overlying the cutting jaw of said another member, said first and second clips being constructed and arranged so that the said one ends of each clip cooperate to flexedly engage a wire severed by said cutting members, and said apertures in said clips are located so that said pivot stays within the transverse ends of said aperture when said clips are flexedly engaging said severed wire.

3. Cutting and holding pliers comprising, one cutting member including a cutting jaw and a handle, another cutting member including a cutting jaw and a handle crossed over said one cutting member, a pivot pivotally securing said members together, one of said members having an offset jaw for cooperation with the jaw of the other cutting member, a first spring clip secured at one end to the handle of said one cutting member, the other end of said first spring clip being a clamping tongue which overlies the cutting jaw of said one member, said first clip including a transverse aperture through which said pivot extends, a second spring clip secured at one end to the handle of said another cutting member, the other end of said second spring clip being a clamping tongue which overlies the cutting jaw of said another member and is offset to cooperate with the tongue of said first clip to hold a wire therebetween, said second clip including a transverse aperture through which said pivot extends, means on said pivot for pivotally retaining said clips with respect to said cutting members, said clips being transversely shiftable with respect to said pivot whereby fiexure is distributed over the entire length of each clip when a piece of wire is severed by closing said cutting members.

4. Cutting and holding pliers comprising, one cutting member including a cutting jaw with a cutting edge and a handle, another cutting member including a cutting jaw with a cutting edge and a handle and being crossed over said one cutting member, said cutting members having top surfaces which are normal to the cutting edges of said members, a pivot pivotally securing said members together, one of said members having an offset jaw for cooperation with the jaw of said other cutting member, a resilient holding clip secured to a handle of one of said cutting members and including a tongue portion having a flat portion overlying the top surface of the jaw of said one of said cutting members and forming a plane which is substantially parallel to the plane of the top surface of said cutting member, said pivot including means to retain said clip closely adjacent said cutting member, said tongue being located to contact a wire or the like severed between the cutting edges of said cutting members, said clip having a transversely elongated aperture therein through which said pivot extends whereby said clip may shift transversely with respect to said pivot so that said clip is strained from the point where it contacts said severed wire to the point where it is secured to the handle of one cutting member, and means overlying the top of the other cutting member which also contacts said severed wire and provides an opposing force against which said clip can act to hold said wire.

5. Cutting and holding pliers comprising, one cutting member including a cutting jaw with a cutting edge and a handle, another cutting member including a cutting jaw with a cutting edge and a handle and being crossed over said one cutting member, said cutting members having top surfaces which are normal to the cutting edges of said members, a pivot pivotally securing said members together, one of said members having an olfset jaw for cooperation with the jaw of said other cutting member, a resilient clip connected at one end to the handle of a cutting member and having its other end overlying the cutting jaw of the same cutting member and being operatively positioned to contact a wire severed between said cutting members, means overlying the jaw of the other cutting member also contacting said wire severed between said cutting members, said clip having a transversely elongated aperture therein through which said pivot extends, said aperture and pivot being proportioned so that when said clip contacts said severed wire neither of the transverse ends of said aperture are in contact with said pivot whereby said clip is strained over its entire length between where it is connected to the handle and where it contacts said severed wire.

6. Cutting and holding pliers comprising, one cutting member including a cutting jaw with a cutting edge and a handle, another cutting member including a cutting jaw with a cutting edge and a handle and being crossed over said one cutting member, said cutting members having top surfaces which are normal to the cutting edges of said members, a pivot pivotally securing said members together, one of said members having an oflYset jaw for cooperation with the jaw of said other cutting member, a resilient holding clip secured to a handle of one of said cutting members and including a tongue portion having a fiat portion overlying the top surface of the jaw of said one of said cutting members and forming a plane which is substantially parallel to the plane of the top sur face of said cutting member, said pivot including means to retain said clip closely adjacent said cutting member, said cutting members being sloped from the cutting edge toward said top surfaces, said tongue having an edge 5 6 normal to the flat portion of said tongue, said clip having overlying the top of the other cutting member to the point a transversely elongated aperture therein through which where it is secured to the handle of one cutting member.

said pivot extends whereby said clip may shift transversely with respect to said pivot, and means overlying the top References Cited m the file of this patent of the other cutting member which means substantially 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS mates with said clip to form a pocket which retains cut- 119,452 Creighton Oct. 3, 1871 tings between said cutting members with said clip being 253,252 Badia Feb. 7, 1882 strained from the point where it contacts said means 2,553,697 Zacrep May22, 1951 

1. PLIERS FOR CUTTING WIRE AND THE LIKE, COMPRISING IN COMBINATION, A PAIR OF CUTTING MEMBERS, EACH OF SAID MEMBERS HAVING A JAW PORTION AND A HANDLE PORTION, ONE OF SAID JAWS BEING OFFSET FROM THE HORIZONTAL AXIS OF SAID HANDLE PORTION TO COOPERATE WITH THE OTHER CUTTING MEMBER, A PIVOT PASSING THROUGH EACH OF SAID MEMBERS INTERMEDIATE SAID JAW PORTION AND SAID HANDLE PORTION, AND A PAIR OF FLEXIBLE HOLDING CLIPS PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID PIVOT, EACH OF SAID CLIPS HAVING A TRANSVERSE APERTURE THEREIN TO PERMIT TRANSVERSE SHIFTING OF SAID CLIP WITH RESPECT TO SAID PIVOT, ONE END OF EACH CLIP BEING SECURED TO A HANDLE PORTION OF ONE OF SAID CUTTING MEMBERS, AND THE OTHER END OF EACH CLIP LYING ADJACENT THE JAW PORTION OF THE SAME CUTTING MEMBER TO WHICH ITS SAID ONE END IS SECURED, A PORTION OF ONE OF SAID CLIPS BEING OFFSET FOR COOPERATION WITH THE OTHER CLIP TO RETAIN A WIRE CUT BY CLOSING SAID CUTTING MEMBERS. 